The effect of quality culture on service quality of public and private Universities: A comparative analysis

Abstract

This study aims to differentiate between perceived quality culture (QC) and service quality (SQ) in public and private universities; and to examine the effect of QC on SQ in both types of universities, individually and collectively. This is a quantitative study in which data are collected from administrative and quality managers of randomly selected universities in Pakistan through face-to-face and online surveys. Of the 150 questionnaires distributed, a total of 111 questionnaires are received, of which 105 are valid, giving a response rate of 70%. The collected data are then analyzed by descriptive and causal research methods using SPSS-25 and PLS-SEM. The findings reveal significant differences in perceived QC and SQ between public and private universities; however, public universities scored higher on both variables than private universities. Furthermore, the results show the significant effect of QC on SQ individually and collectively in public and private universities; however, this relationship is stronger for private universities than for public universities. The findings of the study may help administrative and quality managers to improve SQ by cultivating QC in their respective universities, thereby improving organizational performance. This study extends theoretical knowledge by introducing QC as a predictor variable and then measuring SQ from a dual perspective (internal and external customers) in a university setting, which is less explored in the existing literature.

The nexus between leadership styles and organizational performance: the mediating role of quality culture

“…The study used a cross-sectional survey approach, with the institution as the unit of analysis, and selected one individual from each institution’s top management team (administrators) as the respondent. The decision to include administrators as respondents is supported by many researchers who recognize their extensive knowledge and experience in both academic and non-academic aspects within the university context (Hilman et al , 2017; Iqbal et al , 2023a; Iqbal et al , 2023c, 2023d).…”

“…The mediating role of quality culture (administrators) as the respondent. The decision to include administrators as respondents is supported by many researchers who recognize their extensive knowledge and experience in both academic and non-academic aspects within the university context (Hilman et al, 2017;Iqbal et al, 2023a;Iqbal et al, 2023cIqbal et al, , 2023d.…”

“…Several researchers have examined QC primarily as a predictor variable (Hilman et al, 2017;Iqbal et al, 2023b;Wu, 2015), or, in a few cases, as a criterion variable (Herminingsih et al, 2020). However, there have been limited studies investigating QC as a mediator in the context of HE, and their results confirmed the mediating effect of QC on the relationship between accreditation and HE performance (Iqbal et al, 2023c), and the relationship between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and HE performance (Iqbal et al, 2023a). Nevertheless, there is a gap in the existing literature regarding the investigation of QC as a mediator between TFL, TNL and OP.…”

“…However, the third role or mission is a multidisciplinary, complex and evolving phenomenon that is related to the social and economic mission of universities (Compagnucci and Spigarelli, 2020). The concept of service encompasses internal and external services provided to employees, students, industry and society; however, limited evidence exists on the investigation of services from a dual perspective (Iqbal et al , 2023a; Iqbal et al , 2023d, 2023c). Given the above discussion and in line with previous studies (Agasisti and Bertoletti, 2019; Compagnucci and Spigarelli, 2020), we have operationalized OP in terms of teaching, research and services (both from the perspective of internal and external services).…”

“…Pakistan allocated just 1.7% of its GDP to education in the previous fiscal year, the lowest among neighbouring countries (Abid, 2022). This financial shortage has had an overwhelming impact on various aspects of Pakistani universities, such as the research culture, infrastructure and support facilities, the quality of education, and most importantly, the performance of the universities (Banuri, 2021;Iqbal et al, 2018Iqbal et al, , 2023aIqbal et al, 2023cIqbal et al, , 2023dJaved et al, 2020;Murtaza and Hui, 2021). This poor performance is also reflected in the QS World University Rankings, 2023, where only seven Pakistani universities ranked within the top 1,000 (QS, 2023).…”